Reclaiming the Moon
by Kuroi-cho-tsuki-shiro
Summary: Returning to Soul Society as a criminal, Rukia faces the consequences of her actions. A higher authority has stepped in to command her fate. A series of shorts based on the story of Bleach from Rukia's point of view. 15
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note: If this is the first of my stories you've clicked to take a look at, first off – yay, thank you! Rukia has just left Ichigo in the world of the living and is being accompanied back to Soul Society by Byakuya and Renji, so a new chapter arc is about to begin. This is written from Rukia's pov. Since Kubo never followed her this far, we're about to stray off into lesser known territories, so this is an excellent place for you to start following the story. **_

_**(If, after reading this, you want to go back to the very beginning, just click on my profile and it will give you access to all the stories leading up to this point, although, if you know Bleach, you probably don't need reminding).**_

_**For you fabulous, wondrous people who are following me: Shadewolf7, Truantpony, ForbiddenME, Pinky357, Immortal Vows, Chellythemadhatter, Insomniatic95, Sallythedestroyerofworlds23, UNTensaZangetsu, Xdark FangsX and Superlynx,and BobTheSexyTurtle, .love, Ennaalemap and Makykay15: many thanks for the reviews and support for what is a considerable project. **_

_**Just to let you know, the whole series,up to the end of the Soul Society Arc, was written and finished before I began uploading it, so if you do choose to follow it, I won't disappoint or leave it unfinished. If you come with me right to the end….. Well, that would be amazing. Everything will be a little different from hereon in. Kubo's given me the basic yardsticks to build up a picture of Rukia's thoughts, memories and motivations, but I hope you'll enjoy everything that falls in between.**_

_**Back to the story…..**_

"What was he to you?"

They were the only five words her brother spoke to her as they passed through the _dangai, _the precipice between worlds. When she didn't answer, he continued to walk in silence. Renji too. Years since they had last spoken and now he had nothing to say.

They stepped out of the _senkaimon _into the monolithic Court of Pure Souls: pillars, halls and courtyards that had stood far longer than the reckoning of human time. And the great double-doored gate between the worlds. It closed behind them, cutting off a source of ethereal light, leaving them standing in a stone square in the heat of a summer's afternoon, an azure sky above, the city of the dead all around them.

She hadn't known what to expect when they reached Soul Society. She had imagined Byakuya would take her back to the manor house. Transgressions amongst the noble families were almost always kept behind closed doors and dealt with by the household, so she was surprised when Renji and Byakuya left her at the Department of Research and Development; her brother, without so much as a farewell. Renji blinked and nodded and said her name, then hurried after his captain. How could she have expected anything more from him?

She was taken into custody by four white-clad guards. They put a collar around her neck from which ran thick lengths of rope that they used to tie her hands behind her back. And, just so, she was escorted into the department.

The people here knew her face. If they didn't know her personally then they knew of her brother and of the name, Kuchiki. They turned to each other as she passed, and she caught her name in whispered fragments of conversation. No doubt this was what Byakuya had wanted: a way to humiliate her so that she would not forget this lesson.

They passed through rooms full of computer monitors and readouts, rooms where display screens offered the only light, their gaudy neon glow picking out the pale faces and white coats of the scientists at work there. Only when she was alone with the guards in the corridor did she dare speak and then it was with a nervous laugh that she tried the bonds on her wrists:

"Come on, I'm not really that dangerous, am I?"

They didn't answer and she steeled herself for the possibility that she might have to play her brother's game through to the end. "Why are you doing this?" she asked, more softly.

"Orders."

"My brother's orders."

"The orders of Central Forty-six."

Her steps faltered:

"What do Central Forty-six want with me?" But again they didn't answer. One of the guards took her arm to make her continue walking.

The Central Forty-six. No wonder Byakuya had acted in the way he did. He could not go against their orders. Nor could she, so ingrained was it in her consciousness that their word was absolute. If they had devised some punishment for her, she would have to weather it with dignity. To go against them was something she could not even contemplate.

Because they were the bedrock on which Soul Society existed, the supreme arbiters. If the _shinigami _were responsible for maintaining the balance of souls between worlds, then the central Forty-six were the ones who observed and monitored that balance. They issued their orders directly to the Captain-Commander of the soul reapers and such orders were carried out efficiently and to the letter, for fear that a foot wrong could tip the very existence of both worlds. It was not for any one _shinigami _to understand how the balance could be maintained. For that, they needed to have faith in the body who issued their orders. Blind faith.

How, Rukia wondered, could she have come to the attention of Central Forty-six? She was not important. But, then again, they would not care about that. She thought back to her classes, many years ago: protocol would demand that any crime be taken to them that threatened the balance. If she had misjudged Ichigo, she supposed, it was possible that her actions could have had a devastating effect. The powers she had handed over could have been used to take life indiscriminately. For the first time, she considered what she had done in the cold light of day and realised how dangerous it had actually been.

But Ichigo had let her train him. He had done only the work that she herself would have covered had she been able to continue her commisssion.

So, would they want him?

No. Byakuya would have killed him without a second thought if Central Forty-six had believed him to be a threat. Ichigo, then, was safe, and it fell to her now to accept her reprimand with good grace. If she could do that then she might, at least, succeed in frustrating her brother.

The guards led her to a cell that resembled an airlock, empty save for a raised surface in the middle of the room. It looked like an operating table, though the space was too small and ill-equipped to be a surgery. The guards untied her hands and left her without a word. As the door hissed shut behind them, she sat herself on the table and looked around. The walls were plain, white, offering no hint as to what the chamber was for.

After a little time, the door slid open again and a small man, with vestigial horns sprouting from his forehead, scuttled in. Rukia had never seen him before, but he approached her with a nervous smile:

"Lady Rukia, it is, er, necessary for us to check the level of your _reiatsu. _If you would be so kind as to hold out your hand?"

She did so and he put a small silver band around her wrist. When it snapped shut, there was no sign of a join. "Thank you," he said and darted out again.

She sat there, turning the silver bracelet around and around. Suddenly, she wished that Byakuya had taken her home. In the face of a thousand unknowns, maintaining any kind of defiance was draining. She didn't like the Department of Research and Development, which was famed for putting its search for knowledge above any one individual's well-being. She was in awe of the Central Forty-six. She had not wished to come to the attention of either. She was tired and miserable and she wanted to go home.

The man returned, pulling behind him a vast machine with wires and buttons and screens. It looked distinctly medical in nature and her sense of disorientation decreased:

"Why am I here?"

"We need to check if it's safe for you to be removed from your _gigai."_

"Safe?"

"Remarkable technology," he said, as if he hadn't heard her. He touched one of the wires to the band on her wrist and the metal seemed to soften, enveloping the tip of the device before it hardened once more. His finger lingered a little too long on the soft skin inside her wrist: "Truly remarkable. A _gigai _that obscures all spiritual pressure. Such a shame."

"Why a shame?"

"We have orders to destroy it."

Rukia felt a tug of sentimentality towards the body she wore:

"Why?"

"I don't know." His attention had shifted towards the readout on the machine. He touched some dials and rubbed his chin: "Ah, Kuchiki-_sama, _are you of a level where you have achieved _shikai?"_

"Yes."

"But you are currently unable to sense any _reiatsu?"_

"No." She shifted uncomfortably.

"Truly remarkable."

"The _gigai _was created tp obscure my _reiatsu. _I didn't want Soul Society to be able to trace my spiritual pressure," she admitted, but he wasn't listening to her. The readout, it seemed, was far more interesting. When he spoke, it wasn't clear whether it was for her benefit or for his own:

"After you transferred your powers to the human boy, your spirit body would have immediately started to regenerate. But, from the moment you started wearing the _gigai, _it began to convert the spiritual energy you had left into the bonds that tie the soul to the body."

"That's impossible."

He glanced over, as if remembering she was there:

"Your powers decreased daily. Another week, at most two, and you would have been tied into that body permanently."

"Permanently?"

"Well, at least until the body wore out. Like a human, I imagine."

"I don't understand. What does that mean?"

"For you?"

"Yes, for me!"

"Well." He considered her for a moment: "It makes the practicalities of retrieving the _gigai _from the soul much more difficult."

"I'm trapped in this thing?" she demanded, a spike of panic barbing her words. Worse than an eternity as a _shinigami _was surely an eternity trapped in a shell with no powers, no strength. No purpose.

"Trapped? No, no. We're under orders to release your soul from the _gigai, _Kuchiki-_sama," _he said, unhooking the machine from the bracelet on her wrist: "I'm to report to Captain Mayuri now. Please make yourself comfortable."

"Hey! No, wait!" But the door had already closed behind him and she didn't need to check it to know that it was locked. Seated on the table, she pulled her knees up to her chin.


	2. Chapter 2

Mayuri entered the room, humming.

He was captain of Twelfth Division and, as such, wore the long white cloak of a captain-class _shinigami. _Despite his rank, though, he tended to keep to himself and Rukia could understand why. Like many of the recruits to the Department of Science and Technology, he had modified his own body, enhancing this, changing that. Nominally, such alterations were improvements, but, in Mayuri's case, he had almost entirely forsaken the appearance of a human soul. The skin on his face was rubbery, in places black and, in others, white, making his yellow eyes seem all the more fierce. A metal headdress framed his features, which protruded, to the right side of his brow, in a wedge-shape. Two bulges of platsic or metal covered his temples. She had heard it said that they were weapons of some kind, though she didn't care to speculate on their nature.

Unfortunately for her, he seemed unreasonably cheerful today:

"Would you care to lie down, Kuchiki-_san."_

"Kurotsuchi-_taichou, _I must admit, I'm not really clear on" – She gasped as he took the collar at her throat and slammed her down onto the table. He didn't hold her there, but she sensed there would be little point in trying to sit up again.

"Your _gigai _was created by Urahara-_san, _wasn't it?" he asked conversationally. Everyone knew about Kisuke. She made a noise of assent in her throat, afraid her voice would betray her fear. Mayuri had moved past her to open a panel in the wall and was flicking some switches within: "This room is designed to accommodate an extraordinarily dense level of spiritual pressure. The more _reiatsu _in the air, the more your soul will absorb, regaining its powers. However, too much spiritual pressure and your body will be overwhelmed. Symptoms include: dizziness, breathlessness, muscle fatigue. You could lose consciousness, stop breathing and eventually die. More spiritual pressure – say, a hundred times that which would be required to kill you – would physically tear you apart." His eyes rolled towards her and he smiled at her expression: "It's not as messy as it sounds. You would simply disintegrate." She made another sound in her throat. This time, it was neither assent nor dissent. She wasn't entirely certain what she was acknowledging, but his smile broadened: "_Gigai _are made of _soma. _It's far stronger than _reiki, _the particles that human bodies are made out of. It's far more durable than _reishi, _too," he added, referring to the substance of her spirit body: "But, luckily for you, the bonds that are holding your soul in this body have been converted into matter out of your own _reiatsu. _In theory, they should only be as strong as your own spirit. By exposing you to a strong spiritual pressure, it may be possible to break a few if they are weak. As for the rest, well" – he came and stood over her – "Either way, you're unlikely to be conscious at the time." A sound had started up, a low hum, as if the very walls of the room were vibrating. She felt the pressure change, like dunking her head underwater:

"Is there another way?" She had felt _reiatsu _like this before, in the presence of her brother, but it was different when it came from something living, like Byakuya. The atmosphere in the room was cold and soulless, but it continued to rise, closing in on her chest. Mayuri, whose own _reiatsu _was far stronger than hers, showed no sign that he had sensed the change:

"This is the quickest way."

"Maybe – quickest," she panted: "But is there another?"

"No. I don't think so. They want this done today."

"Who? Central Forty-six?" It was becoming much harder to think.

"Hm? Yes. Yes, orders from above. I'll step out of the room now." He moved away from her, out of her field of vision, which, for now, encompassed only the ceiling above her head, raked by lines of spiritual energy. "The pressue should increase substantially, but, over so short a period, it shouldn't kill you."

"What will Central Forty-six – say if I – die here?" she managed, squeezing out the words between breaths. Mayuri's voice seemed to reach her across the gulf of white noise:

"Since they have sentenced you to death, Kuchiki Rukia, I doubt that they would object if I did their work for them. Still, I will endeavour to keep you alive. No doubt they would want things done the proper way rather than their having to clean up anything – unpleasant."

The door hissed shut. All she could hear were her own breaths, short and sharp, and the rushing sound of the currents of _reishi _beyond. It took forever for his words to drop into place in her mind and, when they did, a tremor ran through her body. She tried to cry out, to call him back, but she could feel the eddies of energy, pulling her away. The pressure crushed her chest, sucking at her consciousness. The sounds of her breathing ceased. The white lights in the room turned grey, and then black. Then the world folded inwards and the last thing she was aware of was the pain as pieces of her were ripped away.


	3. Chapter 3

Two days had passed.

She sat, straight-backed, in a ornate chair: the Lady Rukia, sister to the sixth head of the Kuchiki clan, foremost of the noble families in the Soul Society. She sat and she stared at the moon.

She had turned the chair around so that it no longer faced the bars of her cell, but allowed her to see, instead, a high window. She had watched the moon last night too. It wasn't the same moon that Ichigo would see each night, but she liked to imagine that it was. He had been on her mind frequently for these past two days, ever since she had awoken in the darkness, wondering why it was that she hadn't heard his alarm. She had recalled then that she would never hear it again.

This cell was in the barracks of Fourth Squad, the medical division. She had been passed into their care by the Department of Research and Development while her case was appealed. The surroundings were not entirely uncomfortable. She had a pallet, balnkets and a chair and each day, they brought her three square meals, which she, so far, hadn't touched. Since being taken into custody and Mayuri's revelation to her in the pressure chamber, she'd not seen a single familiar face. But perhaps it was better this way. She needed time to think. She needed time for his words to sink in.

She had dreamed, while unconscious, that she had been surrounded by light, that it had burned through her and she had been strong again. Yesterday though, she had been too weak even to walk the length of her cell. She had drifted in and out of sleep and had woken, many times, believing she was back in the human world. Today had been different though. She hadn't felt so tired, and that meant that Mayuri's procedure had been successful. She was free of the _gigai _and there was a strong chance that, given enough time, her spirit body would recover, for all the good that it would do her.

The door opposite the cell slid open and she turned her head to see who had entered, then looked away quickly when she saw that it was Renji. He was dressed, not in his usual _shihakusho, _but in a white kimono decorated with cherry blossoms. He wasn't a man who could easily carry off such a fashion statement. In fact, if Rukia had been forced to make a guess, she would have said he had come straight from bed without bothering to change.

"Rukia," he barked: "Why are you sulking?"

"I'm not sulking."

"Why haven't you eaten then?"

"I'm not hungry." She was almost certain now that those were his nightclothes. He'd heard reports that she wasn't touching food and had come to check on her. That was just like the old Renji. She might have been grateful, but she still hadn't forgiven him for the anger he'd turned against her in the human world. It had been years since they had last spoken. Perhaps he had changed.

She had thought about him often though. Too often. There were few people in this world whom she had ever learned to trust, but Renji had been one of them. A long time ago.

Risking a glance in his direction, she could still see an echo of the boy he had been. He was taller now. His hair was longer; his shoulders broader, and he had covered his neck and brow in ridiculous tattoos. But, despite a ferocious exterior, he had the softest eyes she had ever known in a man and they, more than any other part of him, were capable of revealing who he was.

"Ah, Rukia," he said, running his fingers back through his hair: "Are you alright?"

Did he intend to start off where they'd left off forty years before? Well, she could play at that game:

"You don't need to worry about me. Personally, I'd be more concerned for you," she said, turning to face him: "What have you done to your eyebrows?" He'd gotten yet another tattoo since last she'd seen him: a black line that rode above his eye then swerved down towards the bridge of his nose. It made him appear to wear a permanent frown. "You've made yourself look weird."

"Shut up"

"I'm only saying" –

"Shut up."

She laughed and turned away again. The moon was gone. The edge of the sun was creeping through the high window warming her shoulders. He wouldn't see that the mirth fell from her face the instant she turned away.

"Renji," she said.

"Yeah."

"Am I truly going to die." Perhaps he had missed the change in her because he answered quickly:

"Sure you are. I'll personally oversee it!"

"Oh."

And he realised, too late, that she had been serious:

"Rukia, how could you say that? Do you think your brother would let them do that? After he went to all the trouble of adopting you into the family? Don't be so stupid. Byakuya will repeal the decision. He's there even now! You're not going to die!"

"You don't understand, Renji. From the moment he took me in, he's not had a single kind word for me."

"Don't be stupid. You'll see," said Renji without hesitation, and that was when she remembered that they were no longer talking about her idiot brother, the kind of man who, as kids, they would have taken pleasure in mocking for his pride; they were talking about Renji's captain. He and Byakuya had worked together to bring her back from the human world. He would have a new loyalty now, a loyalty to that man, which she could not share, even if she was forced to call him family.

"So be it, _fukutaichou-dono," _she said and heard his intake of breath as she used the formal title for his rank. It was a barbed reminder of the alliance he had made and an acknowledgement too that things were different between them. He couldn't come to her now and reclaim his past. He had no right to her.

He opened his mouth to speak, then seemed to think better of it, and she heard his grunt of disgust as he turned away and left her alone again. No, they couldn't go back. They had both made their choices.


	4. Chapter 4

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